Paul George fires a jumper from the corner against the Cleveland Cavaliers Dec. 12 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. / Rob Goebel / The Star

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Paul George was still on the Bankers Life Fieldhouse court long after his Indiana Pacers teammates had left for the locker room. He stayed out there with assistant coach Brian Shaw, getting up shot after shot, looking for the accuracy that has eluded him this past week and a half.

“That’s what we need from him,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel was saying earlier. “We need him to get back to the routine he started after the (bad performance) against Golden State (earlier in the season).”

This, simply, is George’s time.

He already has taken the giant first step, going from passive third or fourth option to the team’s leading scorer and best defender, earning himself a spot on the NBA All-Star team.

Now comes the next step, first against the Atlanta Hawks: a chance to establish himself as a solid playoff performer.

“Paul George was an All-Star this season, but things are different in the playoffs,” TV analyst Greg Anthony said. “He’ll be the focal point every game, and teams make adjustments throughout the series. How does Paul respond to the pressure of having to be the man on a nightly basis when every game counts? That’s the question for him.”

George is deeply self-aware. He knows where he stands in his career. He knows he will be judged on how he performs in the coming weeks.

“I went back and watched the Miami series (last year), and saw I was taking possessions off,” George said Friday. “Just not looking to be aggressive, not looking to attack offensively. Defensively, I brought it as much as I could, but offensively, I kind of let guys off the hook.

“This year, I’ve got to keep a high motor. I’ve got to keep going offensively and defensively. I’m going to look to create and get guys open, but also find ways to score and get myself going early.”

It’s easy to forget, but all of this is very new to George, who is still just a third-year player. He has never been counted upon to be the team’s best player heading into a postseason.

So what has happened to George this past week and a half, even two weeks, when his shot-making has disappeared and his penchant for turnovers has become troublesome?

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Blame it on the wall.

George has been asked to be the team’s leading scorer and guard the opponent’s best scorer virtually every night of the regular season, and it has taken a toll. He talked about it often in the final weeks of the season. He felt fatigued, physically and mentally.

There is no more time for that, especially with Atlanta’s Josh Smith on the docket. George has to be Indiana’s best player once again, and not the ghost he was late in the season when he averaged a shade less than 11 points per game.

He will also have to continue to play big minutes alongside all the other starters, as he has all season. The Pacers simply don’t have the luxury of a productive bench. The starting five will carry this team as far as it can go.

There are no walls in the playoffs. There can’t be.

“Usually you hope if you’re going to hit the wall, you hit it midway or three-quarters through the season, not the end of the season when you’re heading into the playoffs,” George said. “But it did. This is all new to me, being the primary go-to option on offense and defense. I’m just going to have to face that adversity and get back to where I was. I feel good. I feel like I’m back.”

There are a bunch of keys to this series.

How well will Roy Hibbert be able to guard the pick-and-pop against Atlanta’s steady Al Horford? Hibbert has gotten worked over by the Hawks in the past and has struggled against that action in recent weeks.

How will George Hill, who is struggling with an injury, hold up against Atlanta’s two quick-footed guards, Jeff Teague and Devin Harris? Hill’s recent struggles against some top point guards have been well-chronicled.

Will the bench, which is 28th in offensive efficiency out of 30 teams, give Vogel any productivity in this series? (Something tells me Jeff Pendergraph will make an impact in this round, especially given his ability to defend the pick-and-pop with his athleticism and speed.)

Will Lance Stephenson keep it together in the cauldron of playoff basketball? He’s grown immensely this season, but the last time we saw him in the postseason, he was flashing LeBron James the choke sign and getting into verbal tiffs with Juwan Howard.

Which Atlanta Hawks team will show up? They have 12 players in the final year of their contracts and a coach, Larry Drew, in the final year of his deal. They could play inspired ball in the hope they earn a chance to return or catch on as a free agent with another team. Or they could feel like they’ve already overachieved and have their bags packed early.

The key will be killing their hope early. The biggest key, though, is George.

“I see this as another opportunity to step into a larger role,” George said. “I came into my own during the regular season, but this is when legacies are built.”